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College tuition hikes up to 25 percent proposed

DENVER — Colorado college and university students could face tuition hikes from 9.5 percent at the University of Colorado to 25 percent at Adams State College if state funding continues to plummet.

Responding to a Colorado Open Records Act Request, the Colorado Department of Higher Education released details of proposed tuition increases at these and other Colorado colleges Wednesday.

Department spokeswoman Dawn Taylor Owens said the Colorado School of Mines is the only eligible school that hasn’t asked permission to raise tuition above the 9 percent hike allowed by state lawmakers.

She said a waiver from Mesa State College was not accepted because it did not specify a tuition increase amount. Mesa State said only that it would not increase rates if state funding remained the same.

Mesa State president Tim Foster said he will fight attempts by director Rico Munn and the Department of Higher Education to deny their waiver request.

“Is his goal to drive tuition higher? If it is, we’re going to fight with him. He’s saying he wants us to submit a plan that would raise tuition more than 9 percent,” Foster said.